The present invention relates to an improved method and press for extracting the liquid from liquid-containing masses, such as cider from apple pomace.
By way of background, it has been found that the best cider is made by pressing relatively thin layers of apple pomace wrapped in cloth between racks. However, this procedure in the past was extremely labor-intensive because each layer had to be wrapped in a separate cloth and thereafter placed between racks for pressing and thereafter the cloth had to be unwrapped manually to dispose of the pomace residue. In order to overcome the foregoing labor-intensive procedure, various other types of presses were used, such as screw presses, centrifuges and belt presses but they were incapable of extracting juice from multiple thin layers.
A prior press is known which presses a bag of pomace on each side of a fixed platen by means of a movable platen on each opposite side of the fixed platen. These bags are loaded by placing pomace into an open top and they are unloaded by opening the bottoms. However, the problem with the foregoing press is that the bags have to be shaken in the press and the residue cannot be removed easily, thereby requiring the use of press aids which gives the cider an off taste. These press aids can comprise anything such as rice hulls, wood shavings, straw and the like. In addition, the foregoing prior press can press only two thin bags at a time because a clamping mechanism, which closes the bottoms of the bags during pressing and which is opened to open the bottoms of the bags for dumping, precludes the use of more than one bag at each side of the fixed platen, thereby having an extremely low capacity.
It is with an improved press which overcomes the foregoing deficiencies that the present invention is concerned.